A Charlotte activist plans to file a lawsuit against the city of Charlotte and Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department Maj. Brad Koch.
James ‘Jamie’ Marsiciano is suing for defamation, negligence, and violating North Carolina expunction laws, attorneys say.
The lawsuit stems from an incident during the George Floyd protests in Uptown in 2020, where Marsiciano was arrested for striking Koch while leaving the scene.
The district attorney expunged the charges last year, but attorneys say Koch gave a “false testimony” to Georgia prosecutors that denied Marsiciano’s bail in an Atlanta protest arrest earlier this year.
During the Atlanta bond hearing, Koch was cited by prosecutors as saying there was a ‘one-million-percent chance’ that Marsicano would commit a felony if released, Marsicano’s attorneys said.
Marsicano remained in jail for three weeks, paid a $25,000 bond and has to wear an ankle monitor after release.
“When the charges were finally expunged, I thought I could move on with my life, but three years later, this man is still harassing me,” Mariscano told reporters in a press conference Wednesday morning.
In a statement released by CMPD, the department said the charges against Marsicano were dismissed, but they were not automatically expunged from Marsicano’s record.
Koch is still legally allowed to share his opinion with other agencies even if charges had been expunged, CMPD said.
